Welcome

The Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research offers an interdisciplinary forum for the study of gender, its function in cultures and societies, and its intersection with race and class. Students may choose from three areas of concentration within the BA program: General Concentration, Concentration in Theories and Politics of Sexuality, Concentration in Gender and International Development. A minor in Women's Studies and a minor in Theories and Politics of Sexuality are also available. The Center offers master's and doctoral students the Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies in conjunction with (other) degree programs. Graduate students may choose a thesis or non-thesis Master of Arts degree.  For more information on specific programs, please refer to the Undergraduate or Graduate pages.

News and Announcements

Food Fest

April 19, 2012 at 10am-2pm
Yulee Hall  Basement

The Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research is proud to co-sponsor Food Fest with UF Housing and Residence Education, Sustainable UF and the Center for Leadership and Service. 

Food Fest is a UF event showcasing Gainesville's local, eco-friendly restaurants and organizations. Those participating in Food Fest are committed to keeping our community connected through sustainable practices and local connections, not to mention great food! Come out to learn how these establishments in the Gainesville community handle issues like consumerism, sustainability, and gender in their businesses, and enjoy some tasty samples of their work while you learn! This is a great chance to see how the food initiatives of local restaurants and organizations are making it possible for you to enjoy delicious food while staying green, so don't miss it! Please click on this link for an event flyer. 

Bodies that Remember:                                                       South Asian Poetry with Anita Anantharam

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.
Headquarters, Alachua County Public Library 

Celebrate National Poetry Month! Women's Studies and Gender Research Professor Anita Anantharam's newest book is Bodies That Remember: Women's Indigenous Knowledge and Cosmopolitanism in South Asian Poetry. The book explores the lives and works of four of the most recognized Hindu and Urdu female poets of the twentieth century. Anantharam highlights the poetry of these vernacular writers, connecting their critical voices with nationalist and religious revitalization movements in India and Pakistan.

Anantharam will be reading from the book, discussing the poets, and taking questions. This is a free event, open to everyone. Her book is published by Syracure University Press. It is also available by clicking on this link.

Does The Help help?

The Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research and the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations hosted a panel discussion on Friday, March 16 at noon in the Atrium, Ustler Hall. Participants included Dr. Paul Ortiz, Dr. Debra Walker King, Dr. Patricia Hilliard Nunn, Dr. Lousie Newman, Graduate Student Lauren Smith, and Moderator Zoharah Simmons.  

A lively and well attended discussion took place during this program. Please click on this link for photos of the event.

Judith Page Named Director

 Judith W. Page was appointed Director of the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research in the spring of 2011 after serving as Interim Director since August 2009. Dr. Page is Professor of English, and was a Waldo W. Neikirk Term Professor of Arts and Sciences.  A PhD from the University of Chicago, she has been the recipient of several awards and fellowships from the NEH as well as a Skirball Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (2003), and, most recently, a Visiting Fellowship at the Chawton House Library in the UK (2008), a repository of texts and manuscripts pertaining to early British women writers.  

Dr. Page has had a long engagement with Women’s Studies, having served as founding director of the program at Millsaps College, where she taught and held several administrative positions before coming to the University of Florida.  She is the author of numerous articles and reviews, and her books include Wordsworth and the Cultivation of Women, Imperfect Sympathies: Jews and Judaism in British Romantic Literature and Culture, and Women, Literature, and the Domesticated Landscape: England’s Disciples of Flora, 1780-1870 (Cambridge UP, 2011) co-authored with art historian Elise L. Smith.  Analyzing women’s literature, botanical writings, and visual arts, as well as horticultural and educational texts, this book argues that gardens broadly defined provided women with a new language and authority to negotiate between domestic space and the larger world.

Kathryn Chicone Ustler Hall

Built in 1919, the structure fell into disuse in 1979 but was saved from demolition in 1988 when it was granted protection under the National Register of Historic Places. A generous donation from sociology alumna Kathryn Chicone Ustler in 2000 allowed for the vacant gym to be transformed into a 14,700 square-foot academic treasure. The restoration process began in 2004, and Women’s Studies moved into the facility in July, 2006.

Ustler Hall, a beautifully renovated, freestanding three-story building,  includes classrooms, seminar rooms, a two-story atrium, and faculty and administrative offices for the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research. This building is the first one on the UF campus renamed to honor a woman.  To support the Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research, please click on this link.

For more information on renting the Atrium at Ustler Hall please contact  Donna Tuckey or call 273-0382.  To review the rules and rates, click on this link.